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Are You Ready for This Year’s Part C and Part D of Call Center Monitoring: Timeliness and Accuracy & Accessibility Studies?
Language Services Associates (LSA), a thought-leader in the language interpretation services industry, has been coordinating, planning, and establishing the best practices to meet and exceed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Call Center Monitoring requirements and expectations for years. With every call, onsite visit, or translation project, LSA provides the tools and guidance you need to succeed.What are the Timeliness and Accuracy & Accessibility Studies?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services place test calls to audit health plan call centers from February until June. These calls are to ensure that Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare Prescription Drug plans (part C and D) offer clear communication quickly and accurately to their beneficiaries.What Does this Mean and What Role Does my Language Services Provider Play?
- There are two parts to CMS’ Part C and Part D Call Center Monitoring initiative. First is the Timeliness Study, which focuses on average hold times and disconnect rates.
- The second part is where your language service provider plays a vital role – the Accuracy & Accessibility Study. This measures Part C and Part D prospective beneficiary call center telephone lines to determine interpreter availability for Limited English Proficient (LEP) callers, teletypewriter (TTY) efficiency, and the accuracy with which customer service representatives (CSR) convey plan information to their LEP consumer.
- During a test call a CMS surveyor will evaluate how efficient your Customer Service Representative (CSR) is at connecting an interpreter or TTY operator to the call. The CMS Call Center Monitoring Study first measures interpreter availability. Upon connection to a call (when the CMS Surveyor reaches a Customer Service Representative), your CSR has eight minutes to successfully demonstrate that they can answer questions about plan benefits using an interpreter. Once an interpreter is on the line, the CMS surveyor will assess the accuracy of the information communicated from the interpreter to the beneficiary.
How LSA Improves Your CMS Star Rating
- LSA’s dedicated team is devoted to CMS testing with the tools to offer guidance and support to attain a higher score and improve overall communication with LEP beneficiaries. Our staff is constantly monitoring, growing, planning, and keeping up to date with any changes or updates to CMS star rating protocols year-round.
- Our highly qualified interpreters, who’ve completed rigorous assessments, are prepped, and provided with additional resources for CMS testing season. These interpreters understand the significance of these calls and are more than proficient in the terminology and nuances required to succeed.
- Careful coordination, open communication, and experience are key factors when choosing a language service provider to partner with during CMS test call season. LSA expertly delivers on all three and invites you to contact us to determine the best course of action in attaining the highest star rating possible.
How Does CMS Testing Affect My Organization?
- CMS Star Ratings
- QBPs: Quality Bonus Payments
- MA Rebates
- Health Plan Reputation
Languages to be Tested in 2024
- Spanish
- Cantonese
- Mandarin
- Vietnamese
- French
- Tagalog
- English